paxton



(No Model.)

S. D. & D. E. PAXTON. 80 A. MAHURIN.

ANIMAL SHEARS. No. 342,129. Patented May 18, 1886.

WITNESSES UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

SAMUEL D. PAXTON, DAVID E. PAXTON, AND AMOS MAHURIN, OF UKIAH, CALIFORNIA.

ANIMAL-SHEARS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 342,129, dated May 18, 1886.

Application filed September 21, 1885. Serial No. 177,714. (No model.)

To all whom it 17mg concern.-

Be it known that we, SAMUEL D. PAXTON, DAVID E. PAXTON, and Arms MAHURIN, all residents of Ukiah, in the county of Mendocino and State of California, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Animal-Shears; and we do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact descrip tion of the invention, which will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which form a part of this specification, and in which- Figure 1 is a perspective view of our improved sheep-shears, and Fig 2 is a perspective view,on an enlarged scale, of the joint between the handles.

Similar letters of reference indicate corre sponding parts in all the figures.

Our invention has relation to sheep-shears, and it contemplates certain improvements upon the shears for which Letters Patent N 0. 302,354. were granted to us on the 22d day of July, 1884; and it consists to that end in the improved construction and combination of parts of the same, as hereinafter more fully described and claimed. I

In the accompanying drawings, the letters A A indicate the blades. B B are the shanks or handles, which are connected by the joint 0, having the spring D, similar to the joint already described and shown in the former patent. The curved butt-end I of one of the shanks has a longitudinal slot, J, through which passes a headed rod, K, the inner end, L, of which is screw-threaded and secured into a threaded perforation, N, in the curved buttend M of the other shank, and the outer side of the slotted curved butt-end of the shank is formed with a stop or shoulder,-O, against which the head of the spring bears, the said stop or shoulder being near the upper end of the slot and being formed by sloping or beveling the outer side of the slotted buttend near the upper end of the slot at a greater inclination or angle than the lower slotted portion, as will be readily understood by refence to the drawings. This rod will confine the play of the blades and prevent them from opening too wide, and by screwing the threaded end of the spring into the perforation in the other shank or by screwing it out of the same the play of the blades may be adjusted and limited as desired. When the blades require sharpening, the headed free end of the rod K is forced over the shoulder O in an upward direction until it clears the said shoulder, the rod K being of sufficient flexibility to admit of this movement without breaking or permanently bending it, and when the head of the rod has cleared the said shoulder, it will slip up upon the abruptly-curved up per portion of the slotted butt-end, thereby permitting the blades to be opened wide engugh to allow them to be sharpened, and this movement of the headed end of the rod can be made far more easily and in much less time than it would take to unscrew the threaded end of the rod and restore the same to its threaded aperture. This rod forms a firmer and more reliable stop for the outward play of the blades than the spring and stop in the shears described in the hereinbefore referredto patent, being less flexible and more capable of withstanding rough treatment. The rod will also serveas a guide for the blades, preventing them from playing outsideof their respective planes, the butt-end of one shank playing or sliding with its slot upon the end of the rod.

' Having thus described our invention, we

claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United Statesl. The combination, with the shanks or handles of spring-actuated shears, one of which is provided with a screw-threaded aperture. and the other is slotted, of a rod fitting in said aperture and slot, being screw-threaded at one end and having a head at the other, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

2. The combination, with the shanks or handles of spring-actuated shears, one of which is provided with the screw-threaded aperture, and the other is provided with the longitudinal slot, and has a shoulder on its outer sur- In testimony that we claim the foregoing as IO face near one end of the said slot formed by inour own we have hereunto affixed our signaclining at a greater angle the outer rounded tures in presence of two witnesses.

surface of the said slotted portion near one SAMUEL D. PAXTON end thereof, of a metal rod fitting in said ap- DAVID E. PAXTON. erture and slot, being serew-threaded at one AMOS MAHURIN. end and having a head at the other end, sub- Witnesses:

stantially as and for the purpose shown and BEN. WV. DAY,

set forth. WV. 'W. CUNNINGHAM. 

